Wie du als Webdesigner von 0 auf 100k / Monat skalierst (Komplettanleitung)

This is how I would scale a web design agency today from 0 to 100k per month. Today we're going in to see what the offering looks like , how to win customers, how to close deals, and how to scale the team structures. I 've brought along concrete examples, and the goal is that you have a really clear set of instructions that you can follow exactly. In short, why am I relatively confident that I can tell you something about this area? I myself built a successful web design agency, Invade Media, here. On the other hand, at MMS we have scaled our offering from 0 to 600K per month within 15 months, supporting over 100 web designers and now even over 300 agencies, who are achieving very, very good results. Therefore, I am quite familiar with the topic . Today we'll delve into the market and offerings, pricing, acquisition channels, how to build proof in that area, and how to actually deliver websites nowadays, even with AI. We are now focusing on customer acquisition. I've brought another example with me here. We will talk about sales and closing , also using an example . We will discuss how you can deliver projects cleanly, and we will talk about processes and scaling. Here's another example. Finally, we'll go into the ten main mistakes that I see repeatedly in the market, which simply cost customers and margin, so that you know exactly what to pay attention to and what to avoid regarding offer, acquisition, sales and implementation . Let's jump right into the market positioning and the offering. The goal here is for you to know who you are addressing, what result you are offering, and what is included in your package , because a website is not equally valuable in every niche. That means let's start directly with the target audience. Please don't just pick any niche that you think is cool, but ask yourself how much a better website would change things in terms of trust, visibility, inquiries, applications, or sales. A market becomes exciting when exactly these three things come together. So, a target group actively searches for the service, e.g., on Google. A website influences the purchasing decision, and a new customer is very valuable to the company. Things get difficult when a better website offers little benefit to the company. This means the website plays almost no role in customer acquisition. Nobody is actively searching for the offer, or a new customer is simply not worth enough to justify a high-quality website . It looks modern, but the result is no longer sufficient . The website is designed to build trust and attract more relevant visitors for inquiries. So she should be able to do more than just look pretty. And it's even better if you can link it to visibility, qualified inquiries, or sales. The calculation is actually quite simple. We multiply qualified visitors by the inquiry rate, and those are the inquiries. This means that design, text, and proof can influence the inquiry rate or the conversion rate. SEO or simply bringing in more visitors. Ads would of course also be included, and only through qualification and sale would the inquiries actually become customers. So feel free to take another look at the process shown in the graphic here. Visitors arrive at this site via SEO and outreach. This then leads to inquiries, as mentioned, based on the inquiry rate, which in turn leads to qualified discussions and ultimately to sales. A beautiful website alone does not automatically generate more traffic or more revenue. Therefore, we need to figure out how to position our website so that we still achieve the outcome that people actually want. Markets that I would look at first today would be, for example, real estate appraisers or other locally sought-after experts, because it's simply the case that customers very rarely know someone who is personally active in that field and simply search for someone on Google. As I said, for example, with a real estate appraiser, if I were to inherit a property now , for example from my family, then of course I would have absolutely no idea, okay, what it's worth? So, I don't know anyone in my circle who can tell me, hey, okay, that's really how much this thing is worth. Accordingly, I'll simply Google " real estate appraisers in the area" and then I'll probably take a look at the first 23D models anyway. Accordingly, okay, we need visibility, okay, we need a website that is convincing, and I choose one of them and commission them; they have some kind of certificate or something like that . Therefore, I don't need to build up nearly as much proof. This is not such a long customer journey, and visibility plus a decent website directly ensure that the real estate appraiser would earn more money in this case. Craft businesses are also a cool topic. High demand, high order values. The target audience is somewhat oversaturated in the quise. There are just so many agencies operating in this field. Nevertheless, to reach a cool target group, you just have to make sure that you can still get in there successfully with the acquisition . Doctors' offices are also super cool, especially private doctors, um yeah, or something like that, specializing in medical services, super high LTV. Um, plus, if they're found on Google and look reasonably reputable, they can earn a lot of money relatively quickly. And it's not some crazy sales process behind it where the doctor has to close extremely hard, but rather when customers come by, they usually become customers. So. Uh, law firms, similar field. We simply have a great deal of authority here, just because it's a lawyer . Accordingly, as soon as inquiries come in, they usually become customers, and it's not super difficult for the lawyer to turn these inquiries into customers. Accordingly, it's a super cool topic. It's sometimes a bit more difficult in terms of queuing, but it's definitely a great target group, niche B2B industrial manufacturers, everything in that direction is also very strong, because we usually have an extremely high order value . This means that if a company receives 100 or 200 website owners and gets two or three inquiries per month, then in this case it usually translates into a six-figure or sometimes even a seven-figure increase in revenue per year. So, what else are they supposed to do? They cannot run meter campaigns, so if, for example, they were to manufacture or sell cables, they could do that. Um, yeah, so what other kind of acquisition do you plan to do for it ? Accordingly, within the limited possibilities that people have, it's simply a super cool topic and it benefits them immensely if they really gain visibility through it. Exactly . Otherwise, business consulting, specialized B2B service providers is a bit more general, but especially in these niches, uh, yes, you can definitely do a lot with web design. Industry is also a really cool topic. The first filter is therefore companies with approximately 11 to 200 employees in these areas that we can recommend. But don't just rigidly adhere to the number of employees. What's really important first is whether there 's a need, whether there's a budget, and of course, who makes the decision. In the restaurant industry, for example, it's a difficult issue when many people say: "Hey, I do web design in the restaurant industry." The problem is that the target group unfortunately doesn't have that much purchasing power, as the top 10% are safe. So, you can definitely place premium concepts there , but it's really important to actually get access to them and ensure that the website leads to more customers. So, who's a good fit and who's just wasting your time? We will use the same example throughout the entire guide, this fictional agency that we will now take as an example. We create websites for real estate agents. I know a little bit about this topic. Accordingly, the search profile could look like this, for example. Okay, in Germany we want real estate agents, owner-managed teams with the filter 2 to 50 employees is a pretty good region where I know that it works extremely well in this area. The contact person is the managing director or usually also the owner, which makes the transaction a bit shorter. It's really pleasant there. Basically, the company has sold properties and local experience. The owners, however, can find hardly any evidence for this. There is little trust and absolutely no clear way to submit a request. And that's what we can identify as pain and where we can delve into it. Our first assumption is that the website should be clear and easy to navigate, so owners can see what the real estate agent can do and more easily submit a suitable request. We can then clarify in a conversation whether the company has the necessary needs, budget, and capacity. The following contacts, however, will not be included in our initial selection. These are people where we see there is no specific need for a website. When there is no reachable decision-maker. For example, with large franchise companies, it's often an issue where you say, wow, it's just incredibly difficult to get in touch with the people who actually have something to say. I would, for example, weed out many of them accordingly, and if there simply isn't a realistic budget, i.e., if it's a one-man operation that's been in the market for 20 years and you look at the website, you do some research on the internet and realize, wow, it's simply not someone who can afford €10,000 for a website, then of course you can also weed them out. And what is extremely important is that we should also get to the bottom of the expectation that a new website without visitors will automatically generate orders; or rather, it is of course also a topic for expectation management, which we must counteract in the sales process within the service sector . Before I create a huge list, I'd like to do a small test here . So I would write down the target group , problem contact persons and rejection criteria. Um, I would look at five real companies, or even 10 or 20, and check if that's really a good fit. Accordingly, you then build a larger list and can scale the whole thing later in the acquisition process. So much for the preparation. We're going inside. This is how you formulate a positioning that does n't sound interchangeable. The formula helps the target group achieve a concrete result through your work, website, or visibility. A relatively common model that you've probably heard of before. I would n't recommend this later in the acquisition process , but to be clear about it once , we can certainly use it. Please don't use things like: "Hey, we build modern websites, then I'd have to slap you just like Spongebob did to this Wishmob." For our demo agency, it might sound something like this. We develop websites for real estate agents that showcase your local expertise to property owners and simplify the process of submitting a sales inquiry. You can specifically improve visibility and inquiries, but you can't guarantee a recommendation through ChatGBT, rankings, or additional sales across the board . What would the performance and pricing look like? I would make three packages here. Complete. That's it. This means we will complete a package SML 6000, 10 000, 15 000 € net. You pitch the package that fits the customer's problem, not automatically the cheapest one, and also not according to the principle of, oh, I always pitch the most expensive one. Look at where the customer stands, what we need, look at the customer's budget, and then go in and pitch the most sensible solution. For our demo agency, the packages could now look something like this, for example. You can simply calculate for your business how much work and how much cost is really involved . So, if you're a one-man show , look at how much work time is involved . But that's roughly how I would usually recommend it. We have a package S, €6000 for a real estate agent, perhaps a smaller company, one region, one core offering, we include five subpages, strategy, structure, texts, design and implementation, and go into it saying, okay, we'll address owners, include all the references and have a coherent overall package. If we now go into package M with €10,000, that would primarily be for a real estate agent who wants to include several services or several target groups. This means we now have up to eight subpages here, we might also have specific lead magnets included, such as a sales funnel, quiz funnel or something like that, a sales pitch that we can create, and um, we can implement standard integration for inquiries. Um, texts, design and implementation are of course also included. Package L would then cost €15,000 for a real estate agent with multiple locations, where it simply becomes more comprehensive. You could also include a bit of SEO if you're feeling fancy. I would say, hey, up to 12 agreed pages, location structures and differentiated inquiry procedures. So, for example, we have various lid magnets and different funnels included. And we also want to do additional strategic work here to simply cover this standard integration . For example, in the real estate sector, people want their properties listed on Immobilien Scout to also be available on the website, and that would definitely be included, something that must be in every package . Okay, which pages, which functions, which integrations, which information, images and access points does the customer provide, how many feedback reasons are there, when will delivery take place , when will payment be made, and what does an additional request cost? This is extremely important because I see it all the time. Yes, we want to establish that in principle, but I would like to leave things very open. This means you record it in the offer exactly as it is currently shown above. You don't need to have half the page designed already to give us a cost estimate . That means you simply choose SM or L. That's it. The rest is simply standard in the contract and is not adjusted to the customer each time . For our example, let's simply use two bundled feedback rounds. First the focus on the structure, and then the complete implementation. Um, yeah, just check the mobile view, the contact method, the agreed measurements, i.e., Google Analytics and so on. Basic SEO and the handover. Live does n't just mean okay, looks cool on the laptop, but responsive, everything included. Hey, so that I don't have an online shop, software development, or multilingualism, I don't know, I keep coming across people who want to throw that kind of thing in too. Of course, something like that costs extra, and it doesn't include any kind of sea optimization . But that means what we always want to do is take over the texts and we really want to include the entire development of the website . The customer then confirms facts, confirms usage rights, and so on. However, there is always a separate offer for special requests. How do you find the right package? If the customer really only needs a clear presentation with some kind of inquiry process, i.e., a small fan, so to speak, then a simple package is sufficient. Does he need anything more? Perhaps he has slightly higher expectations. Multiple service pages, perhaps some special features? Okay, you take package M. If the customer now says something like: "Hey, I have multiple locations, oh, I want to scale somehow or maybe have a larger team, just take the standard package L and you're done." You recommend one package; you never take all three and say, "Hey, this is what I would recommend, this is how I want to implement it with you." And you explain to the customer why this is relevant to their problem . A website project like this can quickly turn into a Netflix series that gets binged for the next 12 months. Accordingly, we want to cut that out so that we can get to the goal quickly. How do we handle the payment methods? So, regarding the price, you mention two things. Internally, you calculate expenses, external costs, buffers, and margins on the one hand. Your customer is buying a clearly defined scope of services at a reasonable price. It's not about the number of hours, not about a detailed list of all the little things, but the customer has a flat rate for the entire website. If you become increasingly faster through improved processes, faster workflows, and AI, for example, then this will primarily benefit you, because the agreed scope and quality will still be right for the customer. Accordingly, the customer simply receives the added value, and how long that actually takes and what the work behind it looks like is completely irrelevant at first, because the customer simply wants added value. Then you can scale the thing with a nice margin . We're sticking with packages SM, M and L, i.e. €6, 10 and €15,000 net. And for each package, you calculate your costs internally so that you have a certain overview . We can go through it using package M, for example. A realm example might look like this. Okay, the website costs €10,000. For example, we have €3000 in external costs because you might have someone doing the design or who might be supporting you with the technical implementation in some way. Employees or freelancers . 1000 € is simply the calculated cost of your own time. This means that at the end of the day you earned €6000 for sales, fixed costs, taxes and profit. So, that's your profit margin, so to speak. Of course, that was n't your final win yet. So, of course, buffers, working time, external costs and things like that also need to be factored in . Of course, it varies a bit depending on the project, but here's an example calculation. Let's move on to the payment options. Extremely important topic. Either we have option 50, which means 50% at the time of application (aka now) and 50% at a fixed date. This means, for example, in 30 days, 45 days, or 60 days. I would never recommend saying: "Hey, 50% and 50% when the website is finished, because then the customer simply has no incentive to finish the website quickly, because then the second payment will be ready." Therefore, please never connect the second half once the website is finished. If the customer takes 8 weeks to deliver texts and images , you'll otherwise wait just as long for the rest of your money, even though you've already done 100% of your work . The other alternative is to say, okay, 100% up front, we love that of course. Then you can of course also give a small discount , e.g. you say, hey, €300, €500 discount and you pay everything upfront today. The support could then look like this. For example, you could say: "Hey, €200 net per month for technical maintenance, updates, backups, functionality checks, and so on. So, define what the basic service is , how much is included, and things like that. How much time will you take on for changes? But I'd be careful not to say, ' Hey, I'll just create subpages.' You have to be very careful with expectations so the client does n't think you'll be constantly creating extra pages or something like that. SEO and, these days, geolocation are also great retainers. That means you're easily looking at €1,000 to €2,000 per month. There are also much larger packages. So, you can certainly spend up to €3,500. But that's a separate package. Meaning it's always booked on top of the basic service. So, you select the most important search topics , create relevant content, and improve the technical aspects." Discoverability and regularly discuss the results with the client. Geo is about being found in AI-powered search and response systems, and you're specifically selling the work, but you can never guarantee results in that sense , because with SEO and Geo it 's incredibly difficult to consistently achieve them . So, define very precisely what you'll do each month, how much of it is included, and how you'll present these results to the client. Only offer what you can do yourself, or definitely bring in a specialist to support you—a freelancer who brings added value and helps you deliver. Exactly, you can mention the appropriate retainer directly in the offer or include it later as an upsell. The ongoing work usually starts with the Lounge, and that's where you can include the retainer. Ideally, include long contract terms, like 6 to 12 months, and of course, always include automatic renewal. And if you now... If you want to position yourself more precisely, feel free to check out this video. We have a more concrete offer formula there, complete with a checklist, which you can take a look at. It's linked here; it's another YouTube video of ours. You can check it out to delve into that in even more detail. We're now moving on to customer acquisition and leaving the topics of offer, pricing, target audience, and so on. But if you want to learn more, feel free to check out the video here. Exactly. And the specific task for you at this point is to write down your positioning statement and adjust the scope of services accordingly. What do you offer? How do you offer it? Check the costs, price, and payment plan. With that, your target audience, offer, and pricing are established, and now we'll move on to the acquisition path and build your profile or schedule the first appointments. Your offer is ready. Now the next question is: How do suitable customers even find out about it? You do n't need seven acquisition channels simultaneously at the beginning; you should start with just one. Start with a channel that you use regularly and whose results are already showing. You can measure it. I've put together an overview here of the different acquisition methods . What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? Classic cold calling is great, plus you get an immediate response and feedback, which is really cool. The downside is you need conversation routines, you have to learn everything, and that takes a lot of time. You need enough contact data and have to do lead scraping . Anyone who's ever done cold calling knows there are definitely cooler things to do. Paid ads are definitely a plus; you can scale incredibly well, buy precisely measured reach, and you can test a lot. The downside is you need a budget, because if you want to test, you need a budget—or rather, to set up tracking. It's still a lot of time-consuming with all the ads you have to create, the things you have to build, the funnels you have to create, and if it doesn't work out, you're just wasting money. It's a really cool topic. I'm a huge fan of ads, but usually at a later stage, when you've already got some experience. You 're at 50k or more. Email marketing since AI is super nice, scalable, and automatable. The problem is, you get cease-and-desist letters because, unfortunately, it 's simply not allowed to that extent in Germany. Or rather, especially if you send out mass cold outreach emails, and most people underestimate how much effort is actually involved if you want to do it really well . Content, content is great. People see your work and get to know your perspective. You can achieve relatively good reach, especially in such a specific niche. The downside is that it takes a relatively long time . You can't just do three posts; you have to keep at it for a certain period of time , stay consistent, and that simply takes time, and it drags on until the first results come in. Direct message outreach allows you to specifically target relevant decision-makers , get quick feedback on your offer, and it's relatively relaxed because in most cases, you can schedule a significant number of appointments with just a few hours a week. Downside Finding the right people is the first challenge. You have to find and adapt messaging structures and test them. And this is precisely the kind of acquisition channel where you either say, "Hey, it either doesn't work at all or it works really well." This means that the nuances are incredibly important, and you absolutely have to follow the platform rules , check what's allowed, and how to avoid being blocked. We love referrals and networking. Referrals are the best customers because the trust is already there. This makes it much easier to start a conversation. It 's much easier to close the deal. It's not a cold call; the trust is already there. Less work is required in sales. The problem is, of course, that it's not predictable. We all love referrals, but I can't just say, "Hey, I want two more referrals tomorrow." Therefore, it's not a reliable referral channel that we can measure, that we can't really control. This means you can't plan well, and you'll have very fluctuating sales if you rely on it. Pre-appointment and Events. Personal contact can build trust incredibly quickly. On the other hand, you have to coordinate appointments, travel there, and only reach a limited number of people. This means it's extremely time-consuming, and the right person isn't always available at every visit. This also means you waste a lot of time. For our setup, we'll focus on direct mail outreach plus content. I find this to be one of the best channels for most freelancers to get started, to reach at least their first 50,000 followers, and then to scale further. You can often add other channels on top. Especially on the way to reaching a stable 50,000 followers, I would recommend this combination. This means you directly approach suitable people through direct mail outreach, showcasing your content and gaining attention. That's where I would start. Whether it's right for you naturally depends on your target audience, your offerings, and your skills. And the question is, of course, whether LinkedIn or Instagram is better; both can be suitable. We'll use LinkedIn here because we find it easier to make decisions. and can illustrate this web design case very, very well. Sönke, for example, achieved a closing volume of €25,000 in one month. We'll take a closer look at your approach and the testimonial in Chapter 4, and there I can show you exactly how you can use LinkedIn Outreach to acquire customers. But first, let's set up your profile, which someone will view when we send them a message . So, what do we want to achieve here? We want to think 80/20. That means creating something that works with minimal effort, and not just creating busywork. Especially in web design, I know this from personal experience . There are often very perfectionistic people out there. This very often means that their own website is edited again and again and again, their profile is constantly being optimized, even though it's already perfectly adequate and they could already be attracting great customers with it. For starters, a name, brand name ( maybe), the company name, two or three colors, consistent fonts—that's it. Your Your profile and your future website should primarily build basic trust, and spending three months tweaking your logo wo n't get you into those first client meetings. If your cursor shadows are perfectly animated, but no one has yet visited your website or considered your offer, then you've just solved the wrong problem with maximum precision. Therefore, we want to focus on the things that will truly move us forward. The link in your profile should be clear and persuasive. This means that potential customers should immediately recognize and understand the offer from Chapter 1 when they visit your profile. Feel free to open your profile. Let's go through your photo, banner, headline, info text, focus area, and contact information. For the photo and background, make sure you use a clear picture of yourself, a simple banner that clearly identifies your target audience, and not a collage of a bunch of different services. What we see here is, okay, we have a clear banner, which is a bit cluttered because, well, it's my profile. But we do have clear text. Let's tidy things up. What business coaches have ruined. We have concrete added value here. We have a positioning, we have focus areas for building trust, we have some articles and a short description. How would this look for our agency's case? The banner could, for example, contain the text, and I would generally base it on the banner. I think this design is quite good . Accordingly, I would simply put the slogan here and then the slogan below it. So, really super simple. Um, I would write: Websites for real estate agents, making local expertise visible, making it easier for owners to submit inquiries. This will build a bit more trust. IVD Partner: Created 500+ websites and receives 100,000 website visitors per month. I would then include the profile headline with a little joke. We always said this in sales conversations, and it worked really well for us. People always loved it. This means we go in there and say websites that cater to the fish, not the... Anglers taste good. Um, meaning in the sense that, hey, the bait has to appeal to the fish, not the angler. This means the website has to be built to actually work, not just be pretty. As a real estate agent, this means convincing more owners , demonstrating local expertise, and getting leads. And here again is the trust element: IVD Partner and 500 websites created. To be honest, the info text is less relevant to me . I've included it anyway . You can just write a short description. A short copy. You can use this as a guide so that if someone wants to learn more in the profile , you can easily pick them up there. This template is, of course, for our fictional agency. Take your information, the services you can actually deliver, and adapt it so that it comes across well, is somehow appealing, stands out, and the added value is clear. In the focus area, which is what we've just seen here, I would either link to case studies, Uh, something that builds trust or is a call to action. So, link a good example here. Um, please explain your decision. We can discuss your own website later; we'll go into that again in Chapter 3 anyway, but you can add it here, for example. Okay, let's move on to building proof. Because most people probably don't have 100 or 500 cases yet. Therefore, we need a way to build trust with people anyway, because with your own web design agency, you're demonstrating how well you can build websites. This means that if you have an awesome website, it's obviously a big trust factor. But you can also simply include other designs you've created, like Figma designs, just to show, "Hey, I can do really nice design." Of course, you'll then link all of this to the results later. That's what the next chapter is about. A general portfolio concept simply shows, "Hey, how does this person think? What 's important to them? Can people identify with the style?" It's For example, I would focus on this if you have the opportunity to actually show customer case studies . If not, just Figma designs where you show examples, hey, that's the direction it could go in. An individual concept for a specific prospect is something else entirely . We'll come back to that later in the video. Uh, we can do that, for example, to better time closing calls . Um, yeah, it's just another aspect in the sales area that we can delve into a bit more. Please, this is very, very, very important, because I've seen it quite often now: please don't act as if you've built websites for McDonald's, Nike, or Apple themselves, as if they were your clients. Accordingly, use designs you've done or something like that. If you don't have anything at all, use your own website as a reference and not some made-up case studies. So, what would the ladder look like then? From the case study, so to speak. Meaning, we can either... We can promote concepts, or we can promote pilot projects and real feedback. As a third step, we can promote concrete results and concrete changes, or, ideally, we have case studies with real figures and real testimonials from people who say: "Hey, I earned more money." I 've made progress, super happy with [I have no idea] your agency. If you have results, definitely record them, i.e., what did it look like before, what has changed and what has it achieved, and also make sure you get the tests approved. So get it enabled so you can say: "Hey, I'm allowed to push this on the website, I'm allowed to push this in marketing and so on." We also experienced this very often at our web design agency, where our clients were called, "Hey, what was your experience like?" and so on. So make sure you have happy customers. The three web design cases that we have included in this guide are Sönke, Daniel, and Eddict. Feel free to also take a look at how they did it, for example. And um, yes, what's super important is that from the final step of checking your profile, you can see your target audience, your offer, whether the banner, headline and info text fit together, whether it all fits together, and whether your examples and case studies are really well labelled. People can see this and know how to get in touch with you. And if you want to see the LinkedIn setup in detail, right up to the customer meeting, we have also included a video here with the complete LinkedIn new customer guide. Can you take another look at this in peace and quiet? We'll explain in detail how to set everything up, what it all looks like, and so on. Can you take a look here and then immediately continue with websites and website creation using AI? Let's talk about how to create a website with AI. Especially if you're just starting out, you might be able to build your own agency website really well with AI. Of course, it works the same way for a client's side . This means you adjust the target audience, offer, and yes, references, evidence, and so on, and then you can create initial drafts with just a few clicks , and later a finished, i.e., a completely finished website. We'll now briefly go over the process in general terms, and then we'll go into more detail later. Basically, we want to have a briefing first. Who is this site for? What do you offer and what should the visitor do next? So, what is the goal of this website? Structure, texts, i.e., introduction, offer, proof, process, contact methods and so on. We want to have a first draft, which you will also need to help shape manually. The AI ​​helps you a lot to easily create a first version, and you simply give feedback and continue working on it until it 's finished. The next phase, or rather the last one, is then check and launch. So, go over everything again, test the mobile number, does it all work? Are the texts consistent? Does all of this make sense? First clarify your offer, then open the tool, so only then go into the AI, so really do your homework beforehand, i.e. chapters 1 and 2, which we have just discussed, otherwise the website will be super generic and super random and you just wo n't understand who the people are that you want to reach, what the goal is and so on and then the website will just be crap. The current best practice is therefore to go through these four phases once . We have included a step-by-step guide here on how to create the page. This means that because AI is changing so incredibly fast and we really want to have an evergreen video here, um, we have another link here where it is explained in detail. You can recreate everything step by step , simply going through it click by click , until you actually have a finished page. Perhaps here again as an important overview. Um, what should we include in it? What is offered? This is about understanding, relevance, whether it fits the problem, i.e., what evidence, what cases are there for it? Trust is essential when choosing a provider, and then in terms of the action or method, meaning that we truly include all the core to actions . The website should answer the most important questions, and each section supports the decision-making process. Before the website goes live, we should go into voiceovers, performance and evidence, and of course we should remove all random generic customer logos or anything like that that AI might have generated, or testimonials. This will definitely come back to haunt us later. We should check if the site works on mobile phones, if test requests are getting through, and so on in the calendar in CM. So please check everything one more time and then the website can go live. You can of course use this process for your agency and for clients. However, you must double-check the texts and claims for each customer. Now that your offer is ready, your profile is complete, your website shows what you do, who you are, and so on, let's talk about how to approach suitable companies . It's about planning customer acquisition. So we look for suitable companies, write to them personally, and document how things proceed. This means we're building the first beat list live right now in the Ses Navigator. I'll show you how to find the right contacts using this . In our case, it's companies in Germany, industry, real estate, and we want to check their profiles right away, hey, are they really real estate companies, does everything match up? Uh, we're looking for people who have roughly between 10 and 50 employees. Can we set up a filter right away and add real estate agents as an additional search term? Okay. I'll now go to the Sales Navigator profile, create a lead list here, enter "real estate agent" here , and then we'll create a personnel inventory. Chop, chop. Let's put the business area of ​​real estate here , the industry German, uh sorry, region Germany, and we now have a first song list. There are many more features and filters that we can and should definitely use , but this is just the basic overview. We can now look at Mabert here every time; we'll just include his current position as managing director here, because anything else is nonsense. And now we have the managing directors here, for example, from Wolmer Bnen Immobilien GmbH, we now have a lovely Till here, where we can go, network with people and then write to them. It's really that easy with the Sales Navigator. Important: A real estate company is not necessarily a suitable real estate agent. In our case, this means we now have to sort through quite a few things again. We must of course ensure that property management companies, building contractors and portals are not involved. So always either look at this page or actually go to the website and think, hey, is this a suitable company that I can help? And after that, um, we can specifically contact the owner or management about it, write to them, and, uh, so to speak, the responsible person; that's really important. The position may also have a different name in some cases. The important thing is simply that we find the person who makes the decision. It can sometimes be an owner, CEO, managing director, but it can also be a marketing person, head of marketing, and so on. So, for now, we'll save five companies as contacts with all the relevant information. If the selection is right, we can simply expand the list and add more and more people to it, and then tackle it in the question. Without the Sales Navigator, you can also find companies using the normal search function. However, I would definitely recommend including Sales Navigator as well. There are also a few ways to use it cheaply or even for free in some cases . But here's a really great opportunity, especially in a case like website and real estate. But definitely check each contact person individually . The Tates Navigator subscription does n't cover everything. We should then be able to determine within 5 seconds whether a company is a good fit. Does it mean that within 5 seconds it's clear what the company offers, is the site also convincing on mobile phones, is there a clear call to action, are there no proofs, case studies, etc. , is the website visibly outdated or difficult to find? This will give you the first selection, and if you are in a B2B niche, for example, and have selected this, many companies will generally be a good fit for your offer. So you don't have to analyze every contact down to the last detail , because if you have such a basic filter, you can already launch a pretty good attack. The next question is, okay, how do we proceed with the contacts from here? We want to qualify first and then present the concept at the closing. So, with the first message, you want to start a conversation about a topic that interests the other person . We don't want to do endless social selling now, absolutely not . But you don't have to work completely for free for everyone, obviously. This means that if there is interest, you briefly clarify. Hey, is there a need? If you speak to the decision-maker, the timing is right, and the budget is available, then you're in touch. This is extremely important now, so to speak, for the further course of the sales process. If that works out , you can then approach a closing buyer and pitch your design, your concept. Important: Never send your concept, designs, etc. via DM, email, or Loom. You only reveal the concept in the closing call, after you have qualified the person. The problem must be clearly defined, otherwise the potential customer will simply look at it, think, "Wow, I like it" or "I don't like it," and that's it. But you want this space to really explain it well, to put it in context, to explain why it works, and especially to argue according to the concept : hey, it has to taste good to the fish, not the angler. How to present it properly will be covered again in Chapter 5. But let's briefly turn to the message that people actually respond to. It is extremely important to have a relevant argument here . We definitely don't want to write: "Hey, I don't know, Peter, I saw that you're also on LinkedIn." Yes, no [ __ ], of course I'm also on LinkedIn. You're writing to me right now, we want to start with an observation and an icebreaker. This means we want to somehow address the website, its visibility, or any point of connection we have. Then you can add a suitable thought and a simple question, and you can pitch your individual concept in the message, so to speak, but also really show the first closing. It's actually best if you end with a simple "yes or no" question here, so that we can attract people a little bit and they actually get on call with us. The message consists of roughly four building blocks, which we can now go through very roughly. We will now stick with the fictional real estate agent example. M means, for example, to see the properties on his website , but owners can find far too little information here. Why should I sell with a real estate agent? Please verify this observation with each customer individually. Don't make claims just so the icebreaker works somehow. We really want to say something individual, not just say: "Hey, your website is crap and then we'll spam LinkedIn with it," but we really want to find an individual element . Module 1 is therefore the personal introduction, i.e., address the person by name and refer to their region, a post, a sold subject or their website. We don't want to do this "I find your profile super interesting" thing . That's far too general. Ausstein 2 is a loose transition, it could come in that tone. Hey, I just wanted to say hi, something short and appropriate, just to get into the transition to a pitch. Then we'll move on to module 3, a suitable idea. For example, owners can see your properties, but hardly how you handle a sale . Explaining this on the website could build trust. It should also be clear how property owners can contact you. So we want to go in there and say: "Hey, what is the pain? What are the problems accordingly?" And this is very important: do n't write that you've already built a draft if it's not true, and do n't send a draft before the closing. Four more questions is really a simple one. So ask if owners are receiving inquiries through the website and if this is currently a topic of discussion. But stick to this one question; don't send three links and five references and so on, or half the offer like that. Just go in there, ask one simple question at the end, and those will be the building blocks. So no, no dull copy-paste messages, but formulate them in maybe two to four short sentences simply for a normal person. Why should I schedule an appointment with you ? Important topic: Follow-up, and here are a few more thoughts on that. I'd like to revisit the same observation . Supplement with concrete ideas, e.g., again: "Hey, you need an understandable sales page, simply with a local example, and um, ask if the whole thing is relevant." So do n't write five times: "Hey, have you read my post?", "Hey, question marks," and so on. Instead, go ahead and say, "Yeah, you can send a meme or a reminder." We always want to send at least two or three follow-ups . But let the contact decide if they want to pursue the topic; don't put any pressure on them. Don't annoy them . They shouldn't suddenly feel some kind of urgency, like, "Hey, if you don't reply now, you won't get it," or something like that. Of course, you also have to know when it's really okay to stop. Transition to conversation. If there's interest, you clarify what's needed and who 's responsible. Then you schedule a call and discuss the goal, the current website, and what a potential collaboration could look like. But it's important to reiterate: your individual concept remains in place for this call. That means if the prospect writes something like, "Yeah, send it over," then stick to that. Hey, I'd be happy to demonstrate it in conversation, but please stop creating any concepts before the free chat even starts. It's important to stop when there's a clear refusal . So stop trying to pick people off. If they haven't already said three times, "No, I do n't need it," "No, I don't want it," or " We already have someone," then it's okay for them to block each other and turn off their link notifications. Be consistent afterward, but stop trying to intercept people. One last point: please also check what kind of communication is acceptable on each channel. Depending on whether you're on Instagram, LinkedIn, or email, there are always some channel-specific things you need to be aware of to avoid getting blocked . How we evaluate all of this is relatively simple. On the one hand, we want a simple list to track everything, and on the other hand, we want to establish a daily routine. This means a well- maintained spreadsheet is sufficient to begin with. It just needs to be... See who I contacted, what the response was, and what my next steps are . This means we have, for example, the company, website, contact person, profile, then, okay, when did I write to them? Did they reply? What's the next step? When do I need to follow up again, and so on. And, for example, it could look like this: Hey, demo real estate agent, example website, owner, example picture, and so on. Then observation: what did I notice about the website, where might I want to build on that? Then status: okay, we're in conversation, last response is, for example, I confirmed the appointment, and so on. I think you understand what I'm getting at . This means we have different statuses that the client can go through, simply so we can maintain an overview. On the other hand, you definitely want to have a regular blog in your calendar. This means we have a certain to-do list that we go through every day. So first, we address open questions and the next steps . After that, we check out some new companies and contact them individually, always. A certain number of contacts, and then finally, update the list once. If you really do this 45-minute block every day , I promise you 'll gain customers. So first, check if you've selected the right companies and if your messages are effective, and then you can contact more people. Once a week, you should compare new contacts, responses, positive responses, booked appointments, and so on, and do a small evaluation. But always compare the same contact groups. For example, if you contacted real estate agents this week and tradespeople next week, you obviously need to check which A/B tests you've conducted. If you've already tested the target group, you always need to check how the message is performing, and so on. Make sure you do n't draw the wrong conclusions just because you 've tested in too many places recently. And very importantly, just because someone has booked an appointment does n't mean the conversation has actually taken place. This means that on the one hand, you can schedule ten appointments, but if none of them happen or if no one makes a purchase, then you still have a problem, and you... You can't just break down and evaluate the funnel based on this one topic . We've now built our own software for this , called Ghost Print, where we collect messages and tracking information in one place. I've included a screenshot here showing how you can set reminders, add labels, organize everything, and build your daily routine . It's a fantastic tool that everyone we support now receives for free. It uses AI to enhance everything, improving icebreakers, follow-ups, and structuring. It offers a way to send highly personalized messages while still contacting enough people and maintaining an overview . We also track all the numbers with it. This means we know exactly how many messages we've sent, how many people we've connected with, how many appointments we've scheduled, the response rate, and so on. You can see connection requests, replies, booked appointments, and so on, and calculate the rates and gain valuable insights. It's also great to run A/B tests again . So, let's move on to the next topic: content. Make sure you showcase what you can do and who you are. Your offer can be aimed at a specific target group. However, that does n't mean your content has to revolve solely around real estate websites every single day . People should clearly understand what you do, but they should also get to know your opinions, your humor, and you as a person. I would mix these topics , meaning personal experience—decisions, mistakes, and situations from your everyday life— and then what you made of them. Your opinion, your perspective on things like pricing, collaboration, AI, self-employment—anything that truly resonates with you . Show your personality through humor— a funny observation, a story, a meme, or something from your own perspective. And of course, the topic of expertise and proof means showing a project, a concrete improvement, or a real client result, and above all, explaining why you approached it that way. Of course, you don't have to cram everything into one post. Just make sure these topics are... These topics should appear repeatedly throughout your posts. This way, you can find your first topics to create your first post today. Jot down a situation from this week that you can really talk about. Supplement it with a clear opinion or decision from this actual project. Then take the strongest topic and record your thoughts as a voiceover. After that, AI can help you structure the post and elaborate on it even more effectively. Breadth doesn't necessarily mean you should just post anything. People should get to know you better through your posts and still understand why they might want to work with you . A post like, "Five Learnings about AI" with some rocket emoji, well, nobody cares, it lacks personality. So, create something really cool, and you'll actually attract a lot of clients. That's how a real conversation, a meeting, develops. Answer people's questions and engage with them in the comments. If someone shows a specific interest, follow up with them on their [topic/question - context needed]. You enter a situation and then schedule an appointment. A like alone isn't an invitation for an automated pitch. Accordingly, yes, you'll naturally interact with people, and if someone shows interest in your content, make sure you start a conversation. But that does n't mean you should spam every single person who's liked something you've done . If you want to delve deeper into the topic , we have a separate video for that. Let's really get into LinkedIn posts. I'll show you live how to write such a post, how to effectively combine expertise, opinion, and humor . You can watch this video, and then you'll know everything that's important about posting. So, to summarize again, what does the outreach plus the content topic look like? We have suitable companies, the target group is a good fit, so we can approach them. We observe, okay, what can we pick up on so we can address it in the message? We write the initial message, and with the responses, we qualify the lead, clarify the needs, and then schedule the closing call. Case study at the This is Sönke, who has finally found a way to schedule appointments reliably. The thing is, Sönke's clients used to come in rather sporadically. He already had a certain brand presence, partly through content and so on. But he didn't have a reliable way to consistently get new inquiries. What we did for him was build an outreach channel. This means he's become independent of referrals and the inbound marketing process. Now, with 25k leads every month, he's completely reliant on referrals and inbound marketing, because he knows exactly how many messages to send, how many appointments to schedule, and how many clients to acquire. So you can double-check, we've linked the testimonial here , so you can take a look and be sure everything I'm saying is true. Just a quick aside: If you're interested in regular, relevant client meetings, I'd love to chat with you. We're available via MMS. Let's take a look at this together. Hey, where are you in your acquisition process? Where are you stuck right now, and how can we support you? You can simply book a call here. I've linked it in the document , which is also included below the video . Just book an appointment with us, and we'll see how we can best help you . Okay. If you'd like to take a closer look at the first steps in Outreach, I've also linked a video here where we explain exactly what the first steps on LinkedIn look like and how to actually schedule those first appointments. You can also start scheduling your first appointments yourself, and we'd be happy if you make progress with that, and then we can chat again later. So, here's the implementation plan. Start with five vetted companies. Once you've made your selection , expand your list to 20 and start acquiring leads from those companies. Use the four building blocks I gave you to write your first invitation messages and refer to them. Concrete observations you've made. So, any signals, any individual variables from the company, from the entrepreneur you contacted – include all of that . It's important to track everything, record the next step, so you have the numbers to know, hey, how well is it really working right now? That way you'll see where your lead generation is currently stuck. In the self-assessment we'll do at the very end of the video, with the ten mistakes we'll go through, you'll also realize: "Okay, where is the biggest bottleneck right now?" "Where do I need to enter the data again?" comes up again at the end of the video . When you get replies from the chats , you need to be able to continue the conversation. And that's exactly why we're going to look at the sales topic now. In sales and closing, you first need to understand what the customer needs, and then you show them how your concept fits and why the price is justified. A very common issue we see is that people have given us glowing recommendations and are therefore very spoiled when it comes to closing . They sometimes come to us and say, "Yes, I'm incredibly good at sales." "I close pretty much every call ." But then we realize, hey, so far the calls have only come from our network and warm referrals, and these people are n't actually as sales-savvy as they might think. This means that if you 've only sold through networking and referrals so far, you can't automatically close cold leads. Your first few calls probably wo n't go particularly well, and that's perfectly okay and normal. Therefore, I would also include an objection in the calls if it's not okay with the customer. Data privacy is an important issue. Accordingly, you can then simply review the calls afterward . This will show you what you did well in the call, what you did n't do so well, or you could get input from someone external who's a bit more experienced in sales and then simply focus on improving every call to bring in more people . Mentally, it's crucial in sales that you first understand the problem and then find suitable arguments to address it. This is n't about ticking off a questionnaire for your calculations; you will Understand what's not working right now, why it bothers the customer, and what should happen instead. You can then use their answers to argue your case later in the conversation and essentially pitch your product. A list of features and website functionalities won't help you later on; the customer wants to hear about the features, the things the website can do, that address their specific problem. So, we address the current situation. For example, how many new customers are you currently acquiring through the website per week? In Magler's case, it would be, for instance, how many qualified owner inquiries or new sales mandates are coming in ? And if they say none, you can jump right in and say, "Okay, okay, that sounds strange, like, really, none at all." Um, do you know why that is? From their perspective, this allows you to effectively open up the gap and show them: "Hey, this is your current situation, and it's not good, and we need to change it." But of course, you also need to clarify whether you're actually receiving no inquiries or if perhaps... Has no one even tracked or recorded where the inquiries are coming from? So, we want to delve deeper into the problem and its consequences: where are your clients coming from instead, how reliable is it, what have you tried so far, what worked, what did n't, and what does it mean for you if things continue the same way in the coming months? Then we can move on to the goal and the reason for taking action. This means: what would have to change for you to say it was worthwhile for you, or why do you want to tackle it right now ? Or which owners or properties do you want to attract more in the future ? In other words, who are your ideal clients? And then we can also look at the decision-making process. Who decides? Who approves content , what timeframe and budget are planned? Do you have anything in mind? To reiterate, this isn't about inventing any missing revenue, and we don't need to force a problem on the client or anything like that, but we do want the client to truly recognize and feel the problems they're experiencing and to really think about them. So, that's how we can offer our solution . But if he has no need for it, then that's how it is. If he says, "Hey, everything's fine, there's no problem at all," then of course I ask, "Hey, why did you take the time then?" And if I realize that it really is a dead end, that's perfectly fine too . Simply make a cut and move on to the next one. But if you've found something, briefly summarize the situation and ask: "Hey, did I understand you correctly? That's it, and then label the problem that you can then solve in the next step." Now you present your concept in the closing call. Only now do you go in and open the prepared reference or the individual concept that you have created. And we're not just clicking through colors and animations; instead, with every important decision, you explain exactly how it fits the problem that the customer has just described. So, for example, the customer says: "Hey, we're not getting any inquiries in this and that area at the moment." And then you say: "Hey, we solved it the same way here because you said you were n't getting the requests. That's why I decided to implement it like this, so that you get more requests in this area again." For example, the real estate agent says that owners do n't understand why they should hire us specifically, and you then show the local focus in the Hero Section, address the sales references, explain that they are verifiable and that it makes sense and builds trust, and then explain exactly the process and why it works. Your reasoning could be, for example: That's why it's written up here. Owners should quickly understand what you can do before they even submit a request . Then you don't show the contact method, ah, okay, here's the button, but rather say something like, here a suitable owner can take the next step and we've placed the call to action directly here because this is where the highest click rate is, or something along those lines. But feel free to address the topic directly and say: "Hey, a better website doesn't automatically bring visitors and does n't guarantee additional clients; we also need to address the issue of visibility." Then you can recommend the right package and you'll know what the customer needs. You recommend SM, M or L to him and can explain what's included and what the fun costs. For example, with package M it would be like this, hey, if in addition to the website seller idea and this standard connection, because it makes sense , not because 10k just sounds nice, but because it fits the problems that the person told us about . Then they'll explain what's included, how it works, what it costs, and when you pay. And importantly, ask what is still outstanding for the customer. Ask, hey, what topics and processes are covered? Do you understand everything? Are you in? And then attack. A final question you can really answer would be: what still needs to be clarified for you before you can make a decision? If everything fits, you can simply jump in and say, "Do you want to finalize this payment plan with this scope?" Or, if someone else needs to have a say and you did n't figure it out properly during the qualification process , just arrange the next appointment. You give your colleague everything you need, but make sure you get back on the phone with him . In the end, you simply decide whether or not to cooperate, or you absolutely agree on a binding next step with a new date. Please never end the call with "just get in touch sometime" or "I just need to confirm the offer and I'll be happy to hear from you again." Instead, end it with either a decision or a clear next step in the form of a scheduled appointment that's already in your calendar. To give you a very rough idea, it should look something like this. We have the current situation, we have the problem and its consequences, we have the goal. Then we delve into the concept, pitch the appropriate package, and then get a decision. The topic that still comes up for most people is the issue of price. A price that initially seems brutally high to you can still be very cheap for the customer . You often talk to established entrepreneurs. Very important: please do not roll dice. So, don't start pulling a new price out of thin air for every customer, but keep the three packages we've developed. But most importantly, don't stick to the freelancer level where you might have been before. Really go in, go outside your comfort zone when it comes to pricing, and pitch the offer that is best for the prospective client. Make it clear to them that this is the best option for them and that it will truly help them. Then people will pay your price for the service. However, the price should still be appropriate to what you do, what your offer achieves, and what is included. Therefore, please don't invent exorbitant prices, but make realistic, cool offers where it 's clear to the interested party, hey, this is definitely worthwhile for me too. Here's another case study from our dear Daniel, who reached his first 20k month with us. Daniel's sales had previously fluctuated extremely, somewhere between € 1000 and €5000. He also had prices that were far too low, as you can see directly from the price range here. With us, the first 20,000 people per month were hit. For him, this simply included regularly scheduled initial consultations . A structured outreach process and direct feedback on his actual sales calls ensured that he was able to command high prices and actually close the deals, even though he didn't have much experience with cold calling. You can also check out the test again here and see if everything is correct. And if you want to build a position in outreach and sales with us, then let's see if MMS is right for you. You can easily book a call here via the link or again below the video, and if your customers regularly say, " I need to think about it some more," then feel free to watch this video here . I've also linked it for you. This is a sales-related topic. How do I deal with objections, what do I do if the prospective buyer wants to sleep on it ? What if there's a second decision-maker involved, and so on? Please review this information to ensure your next sales calls actually result in customers. Now back to the implementation plan. Always document the current problem and the desired change for the prospect, and note the appropriate package and the next binding appointment for the decision-maker in every call. But even after completing the course, you're still not finished, because now you also have to build a website, and that's what we'll get into in step six. So now it's about how we get the projects delivered cleanly . The client has now agreed, and we will now go through everything from onboarding to the finished, tested website, without provoking endless rounds of feedback . The customer journey I would build today to really serve web design customers in a great way would be the following: In the first step: As soon as the customer has agreed, you confirm the offer, the exact scope and the payment plan. So, what Giefer needs to do in the automated onboarding process, i.e., in the onboarding documents that the customer automatically receives, is to collect company data, target group, goals and contact person, as well as all access details and materials for the project, so that we don't have any further points of friction later on. What's important here is not asking, okay, what should the website look like, but giving the customer something to choose from, almost like a multiple choice . Which direction is better? more rounded or more angular, more serious or more daring. So, you go in and simply help the customer find a style they really like, because often customers ca n't describe it very well themselves. As I said, you need to get all the access you need to review all the available materials as early as possible, get a good overview, and incorporate everything, and not just when you've already finished building everything, the website is supposed to go live, and they've been due for three days already, or you're past the deadline. Another thing I would do at this point is to definitely note where the customer stands today. So, what does the website look like? Take screenshots of how many visitors and inquiries you receive so you can make a before and after comparison later ? How easily can it be found via search, and where can visitors submit a request? You can then create the first draft directly for the top section of the website or for the homepage, using a style guide. You show the fonts, colors, buttons, imagery and a few examples, and then you can send that to the customer. I would strongly advise you to include a loom in your project. This means you can simply show the client the first draft in such a video and pitch how awesome the result is. But can you explain why you designed the site this way , the intentions behind it, and you can better connect with people and show them how much effort you put into it all? So definitely don't just send a link without comment and leave them alone with it, because often people can't really judge whether it turned out well or not so well, and are then kind of left to their own devices. Then get all the feedback you need on the design and the style guide so you can work through everything . Get a thumbs up and then you can really work out the full version in the next step. You then present the finished website again via Doom. Pitzi explains everything you've thought about , why it's cool, then you incorporate the latest feedback, check everything, and then go live with the website. The setup then looks roughly like this. So, mission, scope, onboarding, starting point, hero and style guild here with a loom then. Then you bring the implementation, do the final feedback and testing, and then create the lounge of the website. Here's a short onboarding guide that you can copy from this page. What do you sell, to whom, and what inquiries should the website generate? So, these are all the questions that the customer asks during the onboarding process. What three services and local strengths need to be clearly demonstrated to the owner? So, for the user, this was the immarkler case. Then, which references, images, and statements are we allowed and encouraged to use? Who provides facts and materials? Who compiles the feedback and who releases it? Which existing pages, domains, systems and contact methods must be retained from the old website? What metrics, i.e., which KPIs, do we have today, and how do we later monitor changes in relation to them? Which deadlines, feedback, and contributions are bindingly agreed upon? Access details are then shared via a secure invitation or password manager and should not be passed around as a password list in a form or via WhatsApp or something similar . This will lead to problems in the future, believe me. What we do is write the texts, the customer then simply checks the technical statements behind them, but basically the entire creation process, both in terms of text and content, should be completely in our hands so that we can complete the process really quickly and efficiently. What I can recommend is to include as few feedback rounds as possible, but to make sure they are the right ones. That means don't send some half-finished page every two weeks. Customers then find it difficult to categorize the unfinished work , and somehow lose trust, interest, and enjoyment in it. So, in that sense, it simply makes relatively little sense. What I would recommend is to get the visual and strategic direction approved early on, and then present a website that is as complete as possible and get feedback on it. However, you should definitely also specify the feedback deadlines, the number of feedback loops, and the responsible decision-maker in the offer or in the terms and conditions. If you adhere to all these points , your customer journey and onboarding will run relatively smoothly, and you will have significantly fewer problems with endless feedback loops on websites that feel like they are going live. Here is an overview of the problem loop that many people find themselves in. There is an unclear briefing, missing assets, half-finished work that is shown too early, and endless feedback loops. The customer loses interest. That's why we have poor margins and a lot of work, so our calendar is full. We do n't have time for sales and systems, and this creates a vicious cycle that we absolutely have to get out of, so we need to make sure we do everything right from day one and optimize it well. One more little tip from me, on how you don't have to wait 8 weeks for three pictures, because I think everyone knows this quote. So, because I think everyone has said this at some point, the website is practically finished, we're just missing three pictures, but we've been waiting for the client for about 8 weeks now and we definitely do n't want to do that. This means we will initially take over all the texts and you will provide the first draft. Missing images should first be replaced with suitable placeholders so that the website can still go live. You build the website completely, and once the text and images are there, you replace the placeholders later. So you actually do the entire publication and then you can also replace the whole thing afterwards, and you have to teach the customer that as well . This way you can progress further in the project and publish quite a bit, even if three texts and two images are still missing. Accordingly, this website does not remain open for months, but the customer can simply submit additional information later if they have visited the photographer or have somehow come up with a new way of specifying how they want their description to appear on the website. Let's move on to the topic of templates. Templates are not a problem. Bad templates, yes. You can definitely use and reuse templates and building blocks . However, they must be suitable for the target group and you must adapt them for the respective customer . The customer pays for speed and security in return for the result. not for you inventing every padding technique for the first time in your life. Accordingly, if the customer still gets a great website and it still looks unique somewhere, that's perfectly fine and then you can gladly use a template or create a repertoire or always look for a new template . And then build your websites based on that. What's also important after the mood is that everything works, i.e. basic SEO, loading time, sidebars, metadata and so on, to build separate subpages for relevant search intent, and to have everything linked to Google Search Console and Analytics . You can also include heatmaps and session analyses, and definitely document the current state before the project begins . What was the design like, trust, conversion, and so on, so that you can create similar results before and after, and later use it in your marketing . What's really important is that many people ask me: "Hey, how about SEO? Geo, I'm not that great at it yet." Hey, you don't have to study it for six months . So, you can just jump right in , test it with a client , see if it suits you, if it doesn't , do some initial optimization , it's really not rocket science, otherwise it just has to be implemented , and then you can also bring that in directly , even if you're actually more of a designer. The rule of thumb here is: first deliver what you've already sold. So win the customer, complete SEO, jump in, put in the effort, do your best. And anything beyond that, whatever expertise you have, you will learn through doing, or you can simply hire a specialist, an external freelancer, to support you in that case. And this is one of those topics that nobody wants to talk about, but it's super important. Simply a SOP, a boring checklist that will save you a lot of trouble if you really go through it tediously for every single project. So, desktop, mobile, all important links, everything works – these are the links from the old website. All the new links are stored there, so to speak. So, once the test requests are processed, the forms are confirmed, the recapture is included, the page titles are included, the images, old texts, everything is included, all the facts are correct, the references are included, and all placeholders have been replaced, so that we don't still have something like Max Mustermann on the page . Is there a backup of the old site in case something goes wrong, so we can do a reverse build again? And are all the measurements included, all the KPIs, cookie banners, legal notice, data protection, legal issues, so that you really double- check everything to make sure that everything fits and that there are n't any major problems afterwards? We've also recorded a video on how to hand over your project, check the quality, and keep customers informed; you can check that out too. Is this one, where you can take a look at it, okay? What does the delivery actually look like in more detail? How can the whole thing continue, so to speak ? So, feel free to check that out. Your action steps at this point are to take on the onboarding questions and create a checklist. Go through the customer journey once so that you really have a great overview and can provide excellent customer service from A to Z, and be sure to clarify responsibilities, feedback reasons and approvals in advance. Include this in your terms and conditions, in your offer, so that it's clear from the start. And once this process is established, you simply document every single step you take, make videos of it, gradually write SOPs that come up again and again in your projects, and then you can immediately hand over the topics. And that brings us to the topic of teams. And as I said, what we absolutely need for team building are simply SOPs. We simply can't rely on you to say, "Hey, only I can do it properly," because at the end of the day, probably many people can do it if they have the right instructions. This means that for each production step, you should document what needs to be done, how to recognize good work, and this includes a concrete checklist and a screen video showing how you do it. We mastered this at INW Media, for example, and brought in career changers who, for example, needed two weeks for their first website . Later, one day for a website, then 5 days, then two, then three, and so on. Guys, with clear processes, this implementation went faster every single time because there were clear instructions, because the templates kept getting better, and because we had clear SOPs. Therefore, the SOPs should show the finished result in addition to the clicks. writes: "Hey, what are the decision criteria, what does the tree look like, so to speak, and how can you build the whole thing so that it can really scale?" A mini SOP could look something like this, right? The approved reference page should be implemented. The texts, images, page structure and design system are all approved to start with. So, we have suitable page templates; we just need to duplicate them. Customer texts and approved images must be used. Typography, spacing and contact path, i.e. the buttons, must be adapted to the design system. Check desktop and mobile versions, test links, and then submit the preview link with a short screen video for internal approval so that someone can take another look and then release it . "Finished" means all content is included. No more placeholders, no more broken links. Mobile view works, design is suitable for the release and of course also for the task. When new service commitments or structural changes are made, the person first asks for approval in order to adapt the SOP accordingly. Here's how the whole thing grows without bringing in additional business partners or a second founder or anything like that . If you start out alone, you'll be doing customer meetings, strategy, approvals, filming, delivery, sales, everything that goes with it. So, for the implementation, you can also easily hand over a clearly described task/project. What you simply do after that is check how much additional time it takes for briefing, questions and corrections, because if there are two of you now, you can divide the work much better . For example, you can have a person who then takes over the entire fulfillment process . So, one person takes care of sales and marketing, and the other takes care of implementation and quality. So you're basically bringing in someone to help you with the full movie . What matters are clearly defined tasks, not the number of reasons. So it can also be done very well by a freelancer or an employee. So, for me, it's a huge hurdle to say, ah, I need to team up with someone now or something like that. Please don't do that, especially if you've already thought about it. If you 're together, that's great, then you can divide it up directly, but if you 're alone, get someone to either take over the entire fulfillment or support you with certain aspects , and then you can scale from there. An important question at this point is, how many projects can you actually complete? In a calculation example, with 160 working hours per month, after sales, administration and buffer, for example, 80 hours remain for project work, because on average 40 hours per project, this is mathematically equivalent to two projects. Accordingly, you should of course charge a good amount for the websites so that the effort is worthwhile. If you only need proof of 20 hours of project work now, that would be four projects. However, this requires that the scope and quality can remain comparable . Also check which projects are still open and where you are waiting for approvals. Four new orders won't help you much if you can't deliver them and you still have eight half-finished websites left. Therefore, it is always extremely important to keep a certain overview of your capacities or the team capacities. Consider the effort involved, and then you can decide which support actually saves you time. What needs to change on the way to 100k. Let's go through the GOP map. From 0 to 10k, you check whether the market and the offer are a good match . You gain your first customers who didn't know you before, i.e., cold leads, and you collect initial results, i.e., case studies. At 10 to 30K, you increase your prices, establish fixed processes for implementation, build retainers, and delegate the first production tasks to your team, freelancers, and so on. At 30 to 60K, you organize the projects, do quality checks, and ensure that a reliable sales pipeline is built, and plan how many projects your team can currently handle. You need to structure your capacities and ensure that you can still cover everything despite increasing new customer acquisition. At 60 to 100k, you really start to simply distribute the task within the team . So, additionally, it starts to make sense to bring in another acquisition channel, and as a founder you now focus much more strongly on strategic sales and team leadership. Sales revenue, incoming payments, realized revenue, margin, and capacity should always be measured separately because you should be careful not to celebrate revenue figures, especially during scaling, but rather look at the bottom line and consider whether this still makes sense or if you're pushing something too hard. Am I currently scaling something that does n't generate nearly as much revenue as if I were working with a smaller team of one or two people and had a margin of around 80%? What might the 100k calculation look like approximately? For example, if you have four projects at €15,000 each, plus four more projects at €100,000 each, you're roughly at €100,000 in order volume. Of course, retainers, support, and things like that are added on top . You need eight customers per month. This is of course a calculation example, not a promise of anything, and naturally says nothing about what will ultimately remain. But let's assume that if we really reverse engineer, about 25% of your actual qualified sales conversations lead to an order. You'll need 32 conversations to get eight deals . If you now take a shower break of 75%, meaning three out of four booked contacts actually show up for the interview, you need around 43 qualified initial interviews. The figures are of course only for a calculation example; it always depends a bit on the target group. The odds are, of course, just a calculation example here. These aren't the industry benchmarks I necessarily want to give you, but to give you a first idea of ​​where that would roughly place it. For your planning, you should actually use the values ​​from your pipeline. Depending on factors like the context, the target audience, and so on, it can vary. How many contacts you need now depends on your contact and appointment quotas, and these eight projects would of course also need to be delivered afterwards. So check your working hours, parallel projects, external costs, margin and payment dates, because 100k is signed, not 100k in the account, which is not 100k in profit. So, this is roughly what an invoice looks like when reverse engineered. This means that if we need eight deals per call, we need approximately 32 calls. So, with a demonstration effort of 75% from us, we're at approximately 40 qualified or [ahem] 43 qualified bookings that we need. Accordingly, you can simply engine RAR, but can your current acquisition email handle that, or do we need another one on top? Here's another case study from Addict, also extremely cool guys who joined us quite early on, when they were earning between €0 and €6000 , and are now stable at €20k plus per month, so they've already made good progress. And if you want to see the video from these guys again , here's the link to the testimonial, where you can check it out and get another impression. Also, some super cool guys who are very good at scaling. And here's another quick aside: if you're interested in scaling your agency and have noticed in the video so far, hey, Malik seems to be getting at a couple of things and it would make sense to maybe talk to him about my situation, feel free to check out a call. We'd definitely love to get to know you. We can discuss it together on a call . Hey, where are you hanging out right now? Is it customer acquisition? Is it the sale? Is it the implementation? So, the delivery team can then look together at how we can help you move forward. These are your next growth steps to truly scale. But now let's get back to the topic briefly, before you hire someone. In this video, we'll talk about when employees are truly useful and what should definitely be done beforehand. So, if you're currently working on the Hing topic , you should definitely check out this video of ours where we go into more detail about what's important with the Hing and so on, so that you really have a good foundation. Once you've taken action , here's what you should implement. Check where the problem lies for you right now. Are you getting too few inquiries, too few deals, or too little time for implementation? Accordingly, you can then consider reverse engineering , hey, how can I fix the bottleneck? Do I really need a Higher right now, or is there perhaps something else holding me back? And, importantly before we get into the topic of hiring , document recurring tasks and calculate with the actual numbers, where your margin is, and so on, can you afford it? Then you're actually on the right track to scaling up . Now comes the self-check that I promised you right at the beginning. So, these are the ten most expensive mistakes I keep encountering in this field. Do you always briefly review the errors for your agency? Am I doing that right now? Have I already solved that? Or am I not yet at the point that Malik is talking about right now? And importantly, you do n't need to open ten new construction sites now . It is perfectly sufficient if you look at the points individually and implement them gradually. That means, first look at where the problem lies for you . If there are too few suitable conversations, start with requesting offers. If you're having conversations but rarely closing them , then take a look at the sales process. If you have orders, but your projects are n't being properly completed, then focus on the implementation, your processes, and the procedures. And now let's go into mistake number 1. Your offer sounds like everyone else's . There is a small clue at this point . You can't explain your target audience or specific benefits in one sentence; you just say, "Hey, I make websites." And what you should do at that point is write down your position statement, then look at five suitable companies. Does this offer really fit this company? You can find the template in sections 1.3 and 1.4. Can you take your time to go through it again and work through it properly so that you adjust everything correctly? Secondly, you're promising revenue even though you only planned the design. So, if you 're simply a full-on designer, then you need to be extremely careful about how you can solve this issue well for yourself. So, the signal here is that you don't know where visitors come from, how they should submit a request, or what figures you have so far. So, this means you now need to separate visitors, inquiry rate, and sales, and then look at what the website is really struggling with right now, and then consider whether you can actually deliver on this and which ones you want to deliver. Just take another look at sections 1.1 and 6.5. I went into it even deeper, and then you can fix the points for yourself. Third, your market has no real need for a website. It can also happen that you've captured a market that doesn't actually need websites. The signal is that you conduct good conversations, but time and again a concrete problem, the budget, or the right time is missing. Then you don't have a good target audience. And before you simply send more messages , check your assumptions about the market and your rejection criteria; you can simply go through them again in 1.2 and 1.3 and then adjust everything. Fourth, every project starts from scratch. You can especially recognize this when the project scope and feedback rules are constantly changing. Nobody knows exactly when the project will be finished, and there's just a goal. Here it's important to define your packages: what's included, where are the limits, what does the customer supply, and who approves it? You can use versions 1.5, 6.1 and 6.2 once to do this. Fifth, you don't know your margin. A huge mistake if you have absolutely no idea what will be left in the end , then yes, being a self-employed entrepreneur is relatively not much fun. The signal is, the assignment sounds good, but you don't know what will be left after implementation, corrections, etc. How you solve it: internally measure your hours, your external costs, calculate buffers and margins, and sell a clear scope to the customer . So create clear packages so that you know exactly, hey, I have this much left over on average for the projects, so that you can plan well and scale. Exactly . You can find the invoice in sections 1.6 and 7.2. Sixth, your own website is an ongoing project. You work on it every weekend. Hey, how can I improve the website? This is the signal that you are working on the next animation or logo design, but haven't had a single client meeting yet. The classic approach, or you simply have far too few customer interactions – that's also possible, of course . Clear solution. Once you've filled out the briefing , simply reduce the page to a small contact method and test whether everything works. Complete. And then just leave the page as it is. So, feel free to say in your calendar once a month: "Hey, I'm going to jump back to the site. I'm going to make two or three more adjustments." But reduce it to once a month, or once every three months. That's it. That's perfectly sufficient. Seventh, you don't have a repeatable daily routine for acquiring new customers. So, you spontaneously message people, and you forget to follow up. So, the signal is that you spontaneously write to someone, and replies and next steps get lost in the process. How do you solve it? Find five suitable companies, note down your specific observations, do this once a day, and put a fixed block in your appointment calendar where you actually do it. You can find the instructions here at 4.14 and 5, and then you simply put it into practice, firmly and loosely in the calendar, and then it's solved and forces you to simply go into implementation . Eighth, you should never send your concept before the closing call . The signal, as you can recognize it, is that the interested party gets your litter. before you have jointly understood your problem goal and decision-making process . Therefore, you miss the mark and the potential customer will not be convinced. The solution is to pre- qualify the contact. This means you only present the prepared, limited concept in the closing call, after you've discussed the problems and the goal, and you never send a draft beforehand via DM. We discussed this process in sections 4.3, 5.2, and 5.3 . Ninth, your projects will remain open forever. The signal is feedback that comes in individual messages because, for example, texts or images are missing and nobody definitively approves the website . This means the project will simply drag on forever. The solution is: Assign a contact person, provide bundled feedback loops and set clear deadlines for them. Additional requests should always be agreed upon separately and should never jeopardize the initial scope of the collaboration in any way. And if you have placeholders where you actually have Max Mustermann or something like that, you should simply remove them and then go live more quickly . We discussed the procedure in sections 6.1, 6.3, 3, and 6.6. Tenth, you're scaling sales, but not execution. The signal is that more orders lead to longer waiting times, rework and a decreasing margin. This means you simply have too many projects and little gets done in the end . So, how do you solve all of this? Check your outstanding balances, the time spent, and the cash flow. Then you standardize the tasks and submit them in a controlled manner. The steps can be found in sections 7.1 and 7.4 VI, and the action steps for you at this point are as follows: Mark the first point that you noticed in all these problems , where you recognize yourself. Write down what exactly I am changing, by when, and how I will know that it is working better now. So, what is the goal? Take one point at a time, not 10 at once, so one after the other. The complete Google Doc with templates, checklists and linked testimonials can be found below the video here. We will add the Website AI Tutorial there as soon as it is available, and you can then check it out. And for everyone who has made it this far, maximum props, it's definitely become a longer video , but I hope if you're a web designer, it has given you insights that will somehow take you to the next level of revenue. And very importantly, if you're keen to grow your agency and you're at the point where you say, hey, I could imagine getting some help with that. And something like this has already given you some initial insights. Then I would very much like to give you many, many more insights. That's exactly what we do every day at MMS. And regardless of whether you want to reach 10, 50 or 100k monthly revenue, at MMS we'll work together to see where you stand and what you should tackle next so you can scale. So, where are you right now? What's holding you back from acquiring new customers? Sales Delivery and whether a collaboration with us fits your goal. So we can really help you. I'm very happy to meet you. I hope this video has helped you a lot. Then feel free to click on the link, briefly answer the questions and then choose the call that suits you best. One more very important thing for me: please do not work on your logo for the next three weeks . In that sense, peace.